We Cannot Allow Vigilantism

This week the nation is following two trials where civilians took law enforcement into their own hands. One trial in Wisconsin has ended with a verdict. The other, in Georgia, is expected to wind up this week. Both are examples of Americans' odd obsession with firearms. To my way of thinking, there are too many people driving around with guns at the ready. Fender benders turn into deadly encounters, an evening out for dinner destroys a family caught in a crossfire, children on a playground are wounded by stray bullets; each of these incidents happened recently in Washington DC.

But these two trials showcase a different motive as people with guns took law enforcement into their own hands. They were judge and jury over perceived unlawful actions. In each instance, the shooters claimed they feared for their lives.

The verdict in Wisconsin in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, while expected, is, to me, still shocking. That a 17-year-old can legally access a semi-automatic gun on a technical exception, is astounding. There was confusion on the evening of the shooting in Kenosha, as protests and rioting were ongoing after the police shot an unarmed Black man in the back and paralyzed him. It was nighttime; no one seemed in charge. So, when this young man left his home in another state to come and defend the city of Kenosha in some manner, he immediately perceived danger from others there, and he started firing instead of retreating. In the end, he killed two people and seriously wounded another. The jury believed his claim of self-defense and acquitted him. To my mind, if he had stayed home where I think he belonged, the two dead people might still be with us.

President Biden reacted to the verdict by saying he did not agree with it but that we must support the decision of the jury. Vice President Harris said: "My impressions about the verdict is that the verdict really speaks for itself. As many of you know, I've spent a majority of my career working to make the criminal justice system more equitable and clearly there's a lot more work to do."

In the case in Georgia, Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who lived nearby, was out jogging through a neighborhood when two white men who also lived there thought he was responsible for recent burglaries and tried to intercept him. When he did not stop and tried to run away, he was shot and killed. There was no sign that he was armed or threatening. The two men were joined by a third and all are now on trial for this murder. It took several months for this trio to be indicted, as the original county prosecutor did not see a reason to charge them; the authorities in Georgia have since indicted her for prosecutorial misconduct.

In this trial, the defense counsel excluded all but one Black member from the jury and one attorney has repeatedly called out the presence of prominent Black clergymen sitting in the courtroom to comfort the mother of the victim, claiming their presence would prejudice the jury. The presiding judge has denied a request for their exclusion. Race is definitely a factor in this case. The defense at this trial also asserts that the men were protecting themselves when they shot an unarmed man.

Where do we go next? Will these self-defense claims encourage others to arm themselves and turn more of our streets into shooting galleries? When is enough, enough? Aren't we already saddened by shootings in our schools, our movie theaters, our workplaces, shopping malls, and parking lots? Do we really need self-styled vigilantes taking the law into their own hands and walking along our streets? Don't we have police forces that should do keep us safe? Do we now value lives so little that others can be shot without consequence? Or is it that just some lives are devalued? We, as a society, need to take a stand and say that these types of actions will no longer be tolerated before we devolve into a society of lawlessness.

Sadly, I fear the situation will get worse as the right-wing crowds are jumping to the defense, and, in fact, funding the defense of Rittenhouse and the MAGA crowds are cheering him on because he shot protestors. The Fox News network was embedded with the defense and is doing a documentary on the case; of course, the network was among his biggest fans on their nightly shows. The Supreme Court just heard a case from New York where the strict gun permitting laws there were called into question. It is thought that this court will weaken these restrictions when they release their decision later in the court year.

Now, after all of this dreary news, some great news: the House passed the Build Back Better Bill 220 -213 the other evening, despite the grandstanding by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy doing his best imitation of Senator Strom Thurmond in his 8 hour House oration. Nonetheless, Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi had the last word, and the bill passed the House to thundering applause – from the Democrats, at least! The Bill met the financial concerns from the Democratic moderates as the Congressional Budget Office validated the cost numbers enough to satisfy their issues. The New York Times lays out just what is covered here: in a detailed chart of the initiatives and their costs. Everyone expects these numbers to change as the bill goes to the Senate, where Republicans are expected to all oppose it, so all Democrats will need to vote in favor of this bill under the Reconciliation process. Then it shall go to conference and again be voted on in the House.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated this week that Democrats will negotiate with Senators Manchin and Sinema to ensure the passage of these programs. As the House added Paid Family Leave back into the bill after Manchin indicated he could not support this provision, the discussion should be interesting. Schumer said that he wants this bill passed before Christmas. I think it is sad that these two Democrats are causing so much strife; we don't get to be in power with all three levels of Government under Democratic control that often; why are we wasting time on arguing amongst ourselves? According to the recent polls,(at 538) this bickering is hurting the President's approval and making Democrats look bad.

Of course, there is also the matter of the National Debt, which Minority Leader McConnell said he will not support increasing since he took such flack when he supported it previously, so we shall see what happens there. Earlier Nancy Pelosi indicated that the provision may be added to the Reconciliation Bill and thus not need Republican support.

The Republicans in the House also are busy chastising their members who supported the Infrastructure Bill, while ignoring the actions of Representative Paul Gosar from Arizona who uploaded an anime to YouTube showing him stabbing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Biden. All the Democrats, joined by Republican Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger voted to censure Gosar and strip him of his committee assignments. McCarthy, already expecting to soon become Majority Leader, threatened to do the same to Democrats when he was in charge, even though Democrats have done nothing approaching such senseless actions. Gosar was unapologetic and reloaded the violent cartoon which had been taken down.

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In the latest COVID news, the FDA announced that boosters have now been approved for all adults. Two new medications by Astra Zeneca and Pfizer to decrease the severity of illness in diagnosed COVID cases seem to work well. Michigan and Minnesota are the top states with new cases this week. Maryland, which reported it was 67% vaccinated last week, is still reporting that number although numbers with one vaccination have increased to 74%.

COVID Stats–NY Times:

US Totals: Total Cases: 47,692,614. New Cases: 93,689. Total Deaths: 769,769.

New Deaths:1,113.

Maryland Totals: Total Cases:578,252. New Cases:914. Total Deaths: 11,121. New Deaths: 9.

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Let's hear it for the Washington Spirit–they won the title in the Women's National Soccer League Championship Game yesterday!

Finally, just have to mention that the Republicans (especially Ted Cruz) are now attacking Sesame Street decrying its' "propaganda". Of course, Fox News (which requires its staff to be vaccinated) and the folks at CPAC jumped on the bandwagon! As I understand it, they barked at Big Bird because he showed off his 'vaccination' to help kids facing theirs; now they are calling into question, the newest muppet, who is an Asian puppet, telling Sesame Street to go back to counting and the ABC's. C'mon guys, you can do better than that!

"Til next week-Peace!